New Products at the Maine Boatbuilders Show

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending annual Maine Boatbuilders Show in Portland, ME. The show, held in its traditional location on the Portland waterfront was packed with marine vendors selling everything from small rowing skiffs to large expensive powerboats. I found a few exhibits particularly interesting. The first was from IYRS of Newport, RI where they had a small Moth sailboat made up of carbon fiber. The boat was designed to sail primarily out of the water on two foils, a feat made possible by the light weight of the carbon fiber. The Moth provided a center-point to the discussion of the IYRS program that teaches participants how to create products from exotic material. The second product was offered at the near-by exhibit. The product consisted of a pneumatic system that controlled the opening and closing of thru-hull valves. The system appeared to be designed to be used primarily on larger boats where important valves might be difficult to reach on a regular basis ensuring that they got opened and closed on a regular basis. A third product that I had not seen before, displayed by Coastal Climate Control, was an integrated on-board energy management system that centered around solar energy panels. The panels appeared unusually durable, and the system offered a birds-eye view of all the different boat components both generating and using energy. Additional new product developments were found throughout the show.